Red Sox’ Wilyer Abreu reaches career-best HR total

The 387-foot long ball marked a new career high in homers for the left-handed hitter. Abreu surpassed his previous best and 2025 HR total (22) with the swing to right field.

The homer was Abreu’s lone hit in Game 1, but it was an important one for the Red Sox. The singular run was Boston’s first of the four-game series, as they were shut out 1-0 by the Yankees on Friday night.

Abreu’s HR was the lone run of the game for either team until the fifth inning, when Boston notched a second on a passed ball. The club scored four more times in the ninth frame to win by a score of 6-0, returning the shutout favor for New York not long after the final out was recorded the previous night.

Abreu has been wonderful offensively once again for the Red Sox this year in his fourth MLB season. His homer helped him reach a new career-best in RBI (70), as well as batting average (.254). Additionally, his walk percentage (10.7) is at a career-best mark, and his strikeout percentage (20.3) is at a career-low.

Since the All-Star break last month, Abreu is atop several American League hitting categories. His 12 home runs, 23 extra-base hits, and 30 runs are the most of all A.L. batters. His 27 RBI and .556 slugging percentage are the third-best A.L. marks behind stars like Jac Caglianone and Pete Alonso.

Despite Abreu’s dominant stretch, the Venezuelan is quite a streaky hitter — Saturday’s HR was his first since Aug. 15. Between July 30 and Aug. 5, he clubbed five home runs in what was an utterly ridiculous week of hitting for Abreu.

Both Abreu and Boston are keenly aware of the player’s streakiness. The team has happily ridden the Abreu wave since he played his first full season in 2024 because it’s consistently only a matter of time before he heats up again.

Abreu, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, has cemented himself as a key cog in the Red Sox machine as a guaranteed 20-HR bat in the top half of the lineup. He isn’t due to become a free agent until after the 2029 season (age 30 season), but the organization has yet to signal a willingness to sign him to a contract extension.

Boston has shown it isn’t afraid to lock up young talent in the past (i.e., Ceddanne Rafaela, Kristian Campbell, Brayan Bello…). Some deals have worked out better than others, but those three names didn’t have to prove much on the field before inking their extensions. 

Abreu said in an April 2025 interview that Boston hadn’t offered him a new contract at the time. He has yet to revisit that publicly, but it’s reasonable to wonder if anything has changed on that front. 

Abreu seems to be happy in Boston and is statistically having the best full season of his MLB career with the chance to play in the postseason for the second time in 2026. His value is seemingly only rising, and with an impending MLB lockout, engaging in extension talks would be beneficial for both sides.

Kaley Brown

Sports producer

Kaley Brown is a sports producer for Boston.com, where she covers the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox.